The present invention is related to weapons systems. In particular, the present invention is directed to accessory attachment systems for rifles and small arms weapons that enable attached accessory devices to draw power from a central power source and communicate with the user and/or other devices.
The current rifles and small arm weaponry in use by US armed forces can be equipped with numerous combat optics, laser designators/sights, and flashlights; all comes with different power requirements and battery supplies. The result is a heavy weapon and a heavier field load of batteries to accommodate the various accessories, which ultimately impacts the soldiers' effectiveness, particularly on longer missions. One of the US Army focus areas is improving the performance of their warfighters' combat equipment while reducing the load that each warfighter has to carry. One of these efforts is concentrated on providing advanced technologies to demonstrate the feasibility of an innovative communications rail and power transfer system. The resulting system will be backwards compatible with current mission support devices and accessories that mount to small arms weapons during operational procedures and it will reduce the overall weight penalties of the current system.